Freeway crash case adjourned

Freeway crash case adjourned

AN Albury man who crashed his grandmother’s car in a high-speed accident on the Hume Freeway pleaded guilty to two charges yesterday.

Solicitor Andrea Macdonald said Matthew Joseph Wishart was pleading guilty to offences of taking and drive a vehicle without permission of the owner and never having held a driver’s licence.

But Ms MacDonald said in Albury Local Court that she wants to send representations to police on two other charges of aggravated dangerous driving at more than 45km/h over the speed limit causing grievous bodily harm.

“It is mainly medical reports we are seeking,” Ms MacDonald said.

Magistrate Tony Murray adjourned the charges until next month.

Police prosecutor Sgt Shannon Lewis had previously referred the charges to the Director of Public Prosecutions office at Wagga.

But Sgt Lewis said yesterday the DPP had decided not to prosecute the matters.

The charges were laid after a crash on the freeway near Borella Road, Albury, in early January.

Police say Wishart had been travelling at excessive speed with a “very high” blood alcohol reading.

His passengers, a pregnant woman, 18, and a man, 20, reportedly had pleaded with him to slow down and pull over.

The woman suffered fractured ribs and the man cuts on his legs to the bone, but Wishart had escaped the crash with minor cuts.

Police said Wishart borrowed his grandmother’s car for a joyride to Barnawartha and crashed on the return trip about 2.15am.

The car had left the highway, hit the gutter, slid sideways, went through a barrier, flipped on to its roof, slid and rolled several times.